The basics
Title
Principal
(i.e. Head Forms Designer, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Information Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Head of Marketing, Sales Manager, Event Coordinator and Cleaner. Phew!)
Education
Bachelor of Science from the Australian National University (1995).
Subjects studied: Mathematics, Statistics, Psychology, Logic, Computer Science and Ancient History (just for fun).
Current memberships
- Business Forms Management Association (BFMA)
- Usability Professionals Association (UPA)
- Australian Web Industry Professionals Association (WIPA)
- Web Standards Group (WSG)
- Golden Key International Honour Society for the top 5% of undergraduates.
Awards
- The Kmart Tyre & Auto Service online car insurance quote and purchasing application, which I designed the interface for, won the Pegasystems Inc. “Customer Experience Transformation” award.
- BFMA Diamond Award (for highest volunteer contributions to the association during the year, 2010)
- Canberra BusinessPoint Emerging Entrepreneur (2009)
- BFMA Ruby Award (for contributions to the association, 2009)
Work history
- Oct 2007 – now: Principal at Formulate Information Design
- Jan 2006 – Oct 2007: interaction designer (Senior Consultant) at The Hiser Group
- Jan 2001 – Oct 2005: survey researcher (Account Director & Project Manager) at Colmar Brunton Social Research
- Jan 1996 – Nov 2000: survey methodologist at the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Design experience
For explanation of the terms Q&A, Flow, Layout and Process, see our article about the 4 layers of a form.
Each category lists projects in date order, with the most recent projects at the top.
Total forms design (Q&A, Flow, Layout and Process)
- Web application design (quoting and purchasing screens) for Coles car insurance (2010, web)
- Web application design for WFI's Early Bird Crop Online, a system allowing farmers to manage their crop insurance via the internet (2010, web)
- Australian Made, Australian Grown downloadable application form (2010, paper)
- Web application design (quoting and purchasing screens) for Kmart Tyre & Auto Service car insurance (2010, web)
- Application form, statutory declaration and checklist for Tasmania State Revenue Office (2009, paper)
- Serious Adverse Events reporting form for Pharmaxis (2009, paper)
- Active After-School Communities (AASC) program evaluation forms for the Australian Sports Commission (2009, paper)
- Client Base Analysis wizard interface for Fruition Data (2009, electronic)
- Application Cover Sheet for Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (2009, paper, not yet live)
- Activity proposal form for the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House (2008, paper & electronic, not yet live)
- Application for early release of superannuation benefits for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) (2008, paper)
- datacomIT Technology in the Classroom survey (2008, paper & electronic)
- Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) adverse events reporting forms (2008, paper & electronic, not yet live)
- datacomIT competition entry form (2008, paper, restricted access)
- Review of EMS Basix™ Platform, a WYSIWIG application builder (2008, electronic)
- Pre-placement e-medical for Quality Occupational Health (2008, online, restricted access)
- Breast Care Package evaluation form and My Health Record for ACT Specialist Breast Care Service (2008, paper)
- Part of the SEEK website (more detail not available for commercial confidentiality reasons) (2007, not yet live)
- New patient form for Accident, Sports & Spinal Physiotherapy (2007, paper)
- Origin Energy moving and switching forms (2006, web)
- Airservices Australia Global Navigation Satellite Systems member registration (2006, web, not yet live)
- Human Papillomavirus Assessments (2005, paper)
- Canberra Girls' Grammar School (CGGS) job application, internal staff probation, accident/incident & student registration forms (2003, paper)
- Delegates survey for the Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics Outlook Conference (2002, paper)
- New patient form for The Walking Clinic (2002, paper)
- Department of Education, Training & Youth Affairs Staff Survey (2001, paper)
- Comcover Fund Member Satisfaction Survey (2001, paper)
- Commonwealth Disability Strategy Baseline Indicators Study for the Office of Disability (2001, paper)
- Evaluation of the ANZAC Day Schools Resources Kit (2001, paper)
- ABS National Childcare Survey, NSW Household Security Precautions & Evaluation of Census Products for Schools (1999, paper).
Q&A and Flow
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand Poultry Meat Safety Survey (2005, telephone)
- Department of Transport & Regional Services Green Vehicle Guide evaluation (2005, telephone)
- Australian Sports Commission evaluation of Active After-School Communities (2005, telephone)
- Office of Fair Trading "Lemon Car" study (2005, telephone)
- "Project Star" vaccination research (2005, telephone)
- Australian Government Solicitor staff and client surveys (2004 & 2005, web)
- Job Seeker Surveys for Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (2001, telephone)
- Sports in Warringah Survey (2001, telephone).
Layout
- Melanoma histopathology proforma and checklist (2010, paper)
- Victorian Department of Education internal forms (2007, web)
- GE Money online credit card application (2006, web)
- Victorian Workcover Authority Online Declaration of Rateable Remuneration (2006, web)
- Open Universities Australia online registration (2006, web)
- Instruments in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (2004, paper).
Other information design
- Design of information architecture and page structure for Coles car insurance informational website (2010)
- Kmart Tyre & Auto Service car insurance subsite (2010)
- Executive performance review dashboard for Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry (2008)
- "Breast Care Surgery: What to Expect" booklet for ACT Specialist Breast Care Service (2008)
- Australian Tax Office Professionalism Survey Report (2004)
- CGGS recruitment documents, including duty statements, job descriptions and supporting information (2003).
Presentations and training
Barcamp
- “Let's talk about forms” (Perth, 2010)
BFMA Symposium
- “Making a paper form electronic” (San Antonio, 2009 & Las Vegas, 2008)
- “Visual design principles for electronic forms” (San Antonio, 2009)
- “Questioning questions” (San Antonio, 2009)
- “Testing the standard: does zebra striping really aid readability?” (Las Vegas, 2008)
Mayo Clinic
- “Making a paper form electronic” (US, 2010)
OzCHI
- “Zebra striping: does it really help?” (Adelaide, 2007)
OzIA
- “Let's talk about forms” (Sydney, 2008)
Tasmania State Revenue Office
- “Form design best practice workshop” (Hobart, 2009)
UX Australia
- “Easing the pain: 5 lessons from the redesign of a federal government general public form” (Canberra, 2009)
Web Standards Group
- “Visual perception and the design of forms“ (Sydney, 2009)
- “Zebra striping: the mouse that roared“ (Canberra, 2009)
- “Secrets of successful online forms“ (Canberra, 2008)
WebDU
- “Let's talk about forms” (Sydney, 2009)
Publications
A List Apart
- “Zebra striping: more data for the case” (Issue 267, 9 September 2008)
- “Zebra striping: does it really help?” (Issue 258, 6 May 2008)
UX User Experience magazine
- “What do you mean? How to write good questions” (Volume 8, Issue 2, 2nd quarter 2009)
Some personal insights
- Guiding principle
- Listen to understand, not to answer.
- Way to motivate people
- Give them respect and responsibility.
- Best advice you ever got
- Not participating is a form of participation.
- Best advice for others
- Life is short: forgive quickly; kiss slowly.
(Robert Doisneau)